Bathing cap



July 14, 1925.

L. AUSTER ET AL BATHING CAP Filed Nov. 1 1924 INVENTORS ATTORNEYS ,such depression.

Patented July 14, 1925 UNITED STATES 1,546,163 PATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS AUSTER AND MARIE AUSTER, 01

IBATHING CAP.

Application filed "November 1, 1924, Serial No. 747,800;

To all whom it'may concern:

Be it known that we, LOUIS AUSTER and MARIE Aus'rnn, citizens of the United States, and residents of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bathing Caps, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to bathing caps and is more particularly directed to an improvement in that type of device described and claimed in our Patent No. 1,482,723 dated February 5, 1924. a

Bathing caps as constructed do not protect the hair or ears of the bather from water I and this is due to the fact that the irregular contour of the head more particularly defined by crevices at the points behind the ears and at the nape of the neck permits the ingress of water to the interior of the bathing cap thereby causing saturation of the hair and allowing water to enter the ears.

Furthermore, due to the fact that some per-' sons have greater depressions at points advjacent the ears and at the nape of the neck a a bathing cap normally constructed in atcordance with the device described and claimed in my patent will not always conform to the head in such cases, and it is therefore necessary to take additional precautionto counteract the greater depth of It is an object of this invention to provide a device which when incorporated in a bathing cap as a unitary structure will prevent the passage of water to the interior of the cap by not only compensating forthe irregular contour but by maintaining portions of the cap within the depression and in close contact with the head. a v

Another object of the invention is the prevision of reinforcing ribs to prevent *dis' tortion of the water guards which pocket the ears and protect them against water and pressure. v

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a guard incorporated in a bathing capto protect the ears and hair from water and in which a'rib is disposed along the lower periphery of the cap at points where the cap embraces the ears and nape of the neck, the rib decreasing in thickness from points adjacentthe ears towards the intermediate portion of the back of the cap. whereby the portion of therib which embraces the. nape of the neck will be suflifine no material departure from the salient features of the invention as expressed 1n the appended claims. In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a view in pers ective of a bath-- in! cap showing the guar and protective rios held in position by straps.

Figure 2 is a view in perspective of a bathing cap showing a modified form of the straps for. maintaining a. resilient band 1n position at the periphery of the cap.

Figure 3 is a bottom plan view of the rear portion of the cap.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4--4 of Figure 1.

Figure 5- is a sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of Figure 2.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 10 designates a bathing cap having an opening adapted to receivethe head of a wearer, with the opening at the periphery of the cap being provided with a reinforced areprovided 'as shown at 12 to receive the ears. Ribs 13 are formed at the periphery of the opening and embrace the ears and are of suflicient height to prevent a cover 14 from pressing upon the ears. The openings 12 and the contour of the'ribs are shaped to conform to the ears.

A rib 15 is connected to the rib 13 at the front portion of the earpocket and extends forwardly but decreasing in thick- 7 ness until it merges into the member 11 at a short distance from the ribs 13. This rib provides for a reinforcement to prevent distortion of the ribs 13in front'of the ear when the cap has been forced upon the head of the wearer.

A rib 16 has its ends connected the IlbS 13 at points at the rear of the ears and extends along the periphery of the cap at the. back.v As shown more particularly in Flgure 3, the rib is substantially of the same thickness as the ribs 13 where it joins said ribs, but'gradually decreases in thick ness until it merges into a rib of uniform thickness throughout its length, having less thickness than the ribs 13, and is adapted to snugly embrace the back of the neck. It will be seen that this rib is therefore more flexible than the ends of the rib so that when the cap is forced down upon the head and the rear portion 17 of the rib 16 is in position, the rib will be stretched to force the cap at this point in close contact with the neck and prevent the seepage of water. I

Due to the fact that certain persons have greater depressions at the portion of the head which is at the rear of the ears, it is necessary to provide straps 18 which are formed integrally with the covers 14 of the ear pockets and are made sufficiently long that they may be brought down under the chin and there secured in any approved manner. While we have shown the straps 18 formed integrally with ,the covers 14 the straps may be secured by cementing or by any other well known means. The straps are provided with a plurality of perforations 19 adapted to receive a button 20 whereby the straps are locked together.

The ear pockets generally designated by the numeral 21 in Figure 1 are each formed by means of an annular rib 13 secured to the material at the periphery of the opening 12 and provided with a cover 14, but it must be borne in mind that these pockets may be formed .by making depressions in the cap of suflicient depth to receive the ears, and while we have described the openings 12as formed in the cap nevertheless it is to be understood" that the cover 14,

ribs 13 and the cap 10 comprise a single unitary structure and that the pocket or chamber between the ribs 13 and the cover 14 may be formed in any approved manner to form a receptacle for the ears while the ribs and straps 18 cooperate to prevent the passage of water into the cap and thereby protect the interior of the ears against the. injurious effects of water and also to relieve pressure on the ears.

When the ends of the straps are secured together their inner ends where connected to the covers 14 will exertan inward pres:

sure on the portions 24 of the pockets and not only force the pockets in closercontact with the head but will also maintain such a contacting relation that water will be prevented from entering the cap. The

straps exert a pressure on the ribs rather than causing a pull on the caps per se so that the ribs 13 will snugly engage the head adjacent the ears and seal the cap against Water.

, 1111 the form shown in Figures 2 slide the strap 18 is secured as shown at 22 to the which is adjacent the upper end of the pocket so that the resilient and endless band 23 may be received between the covers 14 and the straps 18 and be maintained in place partics ularly during diving. The other elements of the cap are similar in all respects to the elements described ,for the construction shown in Figures 1 and 4. The band 23-is adapted to be placed over the cap and be maintained adjacent the periphery of the opening of said cap for embracing the-forehead and ears and nape of the neck of the wearer in order to maintain the lower ends 24 of the cap in close contact with the head to prevent any possible passage of water.

It will be seen that the strap 18 not only tends to force the lower end of the pocket into close contact with the head but will also maintain the band 23 against slippage. The shorts ribs 15 which are connected with the pockets 21 and the reinforcement 11 of the cap will prevent'distortion of the ribs 13 when the cap has been forced in position.

The straps may be omitted and the endless .band employed solely for the purpose of maintaining the pockets against movement in those cases where bathers object to the use of the straps.

What we claim is:

1. A bathing cap made of elastic materials having raised portions adapted to receive the ears of a bather and chin straps connected to the raised ear receiving portions above the inner surface for causing the materials of the bathing cap embracing the portions to snugly contact with head of the wearer by exerting an inward pressure on the raised portions.

2. A bathing cap made of elastic materials having ear receiving openings, ribs encircling the openings, covers connected to the ribs, and chin straps connected to the covers.

3. A bathing cap made of elastic materials having ear receiving openings, ribs encircling the openings, covers connected to the ribs to form pockets for the ears of a bather,

and chin straps connected to the pocketsat formingpo'cketstoreceive the ears of a bather, and an endless resilient band embracing the pockets and thebathing cap ad jacent the periphery of the head receiving opening of said cap for creating pressure on the cap at such points to prevent the passage ofwater, straps connected with the pockets and overlapping the band to not only maintain the band in position but to create pressure on the ear pockets for forcing the cap adjacent the pockets in snug engagement with the head of a bather.

v 5. A bathing cap made of elastic materials havin cling t e openings, a cover connected to the ear-receivmg openings, ribs encirribs, a rib connected to each ear encircling rib, flush at one end with thecover and gradually decreasing in thickness towards the rear of the cap, and a rib connected to each 5 car encircling rib at the front of the cap having its outer portion flush with the cover and decreasing in thickness until it substantially merges into the cap for aiding in preventm distortion of the pockets when the 10 cap is eing applied to the head of a wearer.

the raised portions to exert an inward pres- 15 sure on the cap and seal the cap against leakage.

LOUIS AUSTER. MARIE AUSTE-R. 

